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Coronavirus Update

Dear Stefano Dental patients,

As many of you know, our governor has allowed dentists to re-open their practices for non-emergency procedures, starting May 1, 2020.

At Stefano Dental, to help provide the safest experience for our patients and our team, we are looking at opening the office the week of May 11, 2020. We’re taking extra precautions against the spread of COVID-19 to help provide the safest dental experience for our patients and our employees.

Please read the following important information in its entirety, as we prepare to provide you the safest and effective dental experience, as we move through the experience of COVID-19.

Please be aware that you can expect many changes to the way you’re scheduled, how you check-in, how you wait for an appointment and how you check-out. Based on urgency and emergency situations, we will be prioritizing appointments. We will also be offering tele-dentistry and virtual consultations as well.

As we learn more about how this virus spreads, our procedures may be evolving. We appreciate your continued patience. In the meantime, we’re regularly reviewing infection control recommendations from American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide us the most up-to-date rulings that may be issued.

For those patients with canceled appointments due to COVID-19, we will proactively be calling each of you to reschedule your appointment at our soonest convenience. Please contact us if you have an urgent need.

Changes to office procedures: You can expect to see these changes when you return to our office.

Upon arrival, we will ask that you call us from your car before entering the building. *Please note due to our limited mask supply, we will ask that you wear a mouth and nose covering from home.

To keep office traffic low, we request that only the patient comes to thee appointment and no others will be able to come into the treatment room. If the patient is a minor, and a guardian requests to accompany the minor, the guardian is required to wear a face/nose
mask, answer screening questions, and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Please advise our office in advance if you’re planning to accompany a ‘minor’ patient into the treatment room.

When you enter the office you will be asked to use hand sanitizer. You will also find some in the reception area and throughout the office for your use, as needed.

For your safety, since some items are difficult to clean or disinfect, our reception room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth.

In order to minimize time at the registration area, we will contact you beforehand to ask some screening questions. Those same questions will be asked again when you arrive to ensure nothing has changed. Temperatures will also be taken. This will take place in the vestibule or outside our front doors (weather permitting), before you enter the office area. Our goal is to minimize patient time in the registration area as much as possible.

Stefano Dental employees and Dr. Stefano will also be asked screening questions and be temperature-checked before each working day and will stay home if they are ill.

During payment checkout, credit cards will be disinfected and 6-foot floor markings will be in place to remind us of social distancing. Patient flow will be staggered to minimize crowding or gathering in the checkout area.

Public restrooms will be open on an as-needed basis only. If used, bathrooms will be completely disinfected after each use.

For added safety, we are disinfecting all common areas with hospital-grade disinfectants to include: door handles, knobs, switches, and public surfaces both in the treatment rooms, reception room, vestibule area, front desk area, bathroom faucets, toilet handles, and toilet seats, on a frequent basis throughout the day.

We ask that you observe the 6-feet social distancing when around others.

To allow for social distancing, appointments will be managed as such. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling an appointment.

In order to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time, we will do our best to allow more time between patients.

We are happy to answer any questions regarding our disinfection and sterilization policies and look forward to making every visit to our office safe, comfortable and effective.

Please, if you are sick or exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19, stay at home and call us to reschedule your appointment.

Thank you for your continued support and patience as we navigate this new world!